NetGear WNDR3700v4 N600 router issue

I'm no techie but this is what I think I know; I'm getting very reduced network speed, a very weak signal and it seems like there is a problem staying connected. I have isolated the problem to my router. I'm paying Time Warner for 20Mbps download and 2Mbps upload speeds. My downlands are running between sub-1 and about 10Mbps with the majority of measurements in the 2 to 4Mbps range. When I connect by wire (5e cable) to my modem I get near 20, when I connect to my router by wire I get near 20. When I connect to my router with Wi-Fi I have the problems. I've run Speedtest from an old HP Vista pentium laptop, from a Dell Win7 i7 desktop and from a Toshiba Win8 A4 laptop all with the same results. My router placement is not ideal, however, I moved from MA to NC with a WNDR3700v1 or 2 and had no reason to complain and never cared about testing speed. I lost the router to a nearby lightning strike and replaced the router with the updated version of the damaged model. That's when the problems started. I've talked to NetGear and tweaked settings 5 times which has left me with the occasional 10Mbps download. Upload speeds have been pretty consistent at just under 2. After the 5th conversation, NetGear sent a replacement router. It performed worse than the first and a second replacement performed worse than that. I've also talked with Time Warner and they haven't been able to offer anything. I did try a new modem that was useless. So now that I've exhausted all of the amateur advisers I've come to the experts for help.

Any ideas why a newer model of a decent router would behave much worse that an older model of this same router? I am using the latest firmware and have been during all of my speed testing. Do I bite-the-bullet and try different brand?

All your testing seems to point to the router as the source of the problem, so I would agree with Jim. If you can buy the router from a place where you can easily return it, in case of problems, that would probably be a good solution.

You might also want to change the wireless broadcast channel to make sure you're not seeing interference. If you download and run inssider , you can see all the wireless networks in your neighborhood and which ones are overlapping your current channel.http://www.metageek.net/support/downloads/

You might also want to change the wireless broadcast channel to make sure you're not seeing interference. If you download and run inssider , you can see all the wireless networks in your neighborhood and which ones are overlapping your current channel.http://www.metageek.net/support/downloads/

I have the same router and I've not had a problem. Have you done a reset to factory default setting and then follow the directions as listed in the manual. Sometimes we get impatient and miss a simple step. Jerry had good ideas to try.
MJ